El Paso Zoo's new Lion Pride
June 12, 2018
Featured

El Paso Zoo has Family Pride of Lions

EL PASO, Texas – The El Paso Zoo is celebrating the end of an amazing and important achievement and can now exhibit a family pride of four lions that was four years in the making and highlights the great care, understanding and expertise of zoo staff. “This has taken an enormous amount of staff time, patience, planning, initiative, flexibility, ingenuity, expertise, decision-making, and all-out love and dedication for the animals and our work,” said El Paso Zoo Africa Collections Supervisor Amanda Leverett. “Our staff couldn’t be happier for Rudo and his new family. It was worth the effort everyone put in. It is truly heart-warming to see them all together now.” In 2010, the zoo acquired three lionesses, Zari, Malaika, and Kalliope, but when the newest member of the family, Rudo, arrived in 2014 it was clear the introduction process would be a long one.

At 1½ years old, Rudo was not ready to join the pride of adult lionesses. His youth and immaturity made him vulnerable during social interactions with the more mature females. Zoo staff felt he needed to mature, gain more confidence and courage before it was safe for him to be around the lionesses. Staff in the Africa section of the Zoo spent two years closely monitoring the lions’ behavior during carefully staged introductions, making sure all of the lions were doing well together during each progressive step. Planned introductions are important to allow animals to feel comfortable around each other and avoid injury. Lions are ambassadors for conservation, helping the zoo bring attention towards efforts to help wild lions in Africa whose populations are largely in decline.

The El Paso Zoo alongside the El Paso Zoological Society supports a lion guardian, Kuresoi ole Purdul. He monitors what is known as the Olbili zone in Mbirikani Group Ranch. This zone is a high-conflict area as it adjacent to the Chyulu Hills National Park where there have been several cases of lions being caught in snares or poisoned, in the past. This conservation program is dedicated to understanding and implementing long-term solutions for people and African lions to coexist.